Sunday, October 30, 2011

How we ended up here

Most stories have a beginning, middle and an end, but not this story. For those of you who have wondered how we ended up in Utah here you go.

Last year, as Kirk was finishing his Master’s, we knew it would lead us on a new path in life. We thought that this path would only entail a new job, but little did we know what was in store!

Kirk began his job search in November of 2010 with no luck at all. Due to the economic downturn and financial reform, it has become common for job seekers to search for a position for many months and sometimes years, in the financial industry. In California, jobs were more scarce, and where there used to be many opportunities, they seemed to have dried up.

At the beginning of March 2011, we started talking about leaving the state, possibly Arizona or Utah to search for a job. Because that would mean leaving behind Paige and Dillon, the conversation quickly ended. The only problem was, the thought of moving to Utah would not leave me alone.

Most of you, if not all, will think I am crazy… (What’s new?) but I have always wanted to move to Utah. I have some of my best childhood memories during summertime at my grandma’s house, playing with cousins. Yes, I know that you may have caught “summer time”… and no, I have never lived in the snow let alone driven in it. This will be a new adventure.

I love that there is a church on every corner, and a temple on every hill. I love that you can buy LDS items at any store you go, even at second hand stores and Costco. I really just thought moving to Utah was purely selfish of me and I just chalked it up as such. However, those feeling would not go away! It got to the point that the thought of moving to Utah would keep me up to all hours of the night and sometimes wake me up in the middle of the night. I was exhausted, and each attempt I made to talk to Kirk about Utah always ended the same, “I am not leaving my kids!” I really struggled with this because I was getting such a strong feeling that we needed to move yet I completely understood him not wanting to leave his kids. I did not want this to be a source of contention for us but at this point, I needed sleep and peace in my life.

So finally, I told him not to shoot the messenger and asked him to pray about it for himself. He went to the temple the following day and when he returned home, I asked him how it went. He said, “Well I guess we are moving to Utah.”

That night he had a thought to search for job working for the LDS church. We both never knew that you could work for the LDS church. However, Kirk was lead in that direction to apply for some jobs working with the church. Soon after he submitted his resume, he received a call from the church and they wanted to interview him. The first interview was just a phone screen. The HR rep asked general qualifying questions. Shortly after that screen, they called him to have a phone interview. At the close of the interview, they told him that he should get a call in about a week. In less than an hour, he received a call to setup an interview in Riverton Utah, and to setup flight arrangements.

He talked to the travel department and they decided to let him rent a car so they whole family could come out with him. There just happened to be a family reunion in Utah at the time, and it worked out perfectly for us all to go. The morning of the interview Kirk woke up at 4am and could not sleep. He had several questions in his head that he felt the need to write down. He interview with three different groups of people lasting about two hours. The last interview was in a telepresence room with a connection to the Church office building with a span of video monitors on the wall, with a camera in the middle, to the left and the right. There were 4 interviewing managers on the screens and one seated to his right. At the completion of the interview, he got the same speech; once they made a decision, they would call him in about a week and let him know if he got the position. He left the building and did not even make it two minutes down the road before they called him and asked him to meet at the church office building in Salt Lake City. At the Church Office Building is where they offered him the job.

We thought it was a little odd that they kept saying, “We will let you know in a week”, and then following up right away. We later found out that when apply for a job with the church it takes a long time. It is normally hurry up and wait!

The decision to hire someone for the church is strictly by inspiration. Even once they offered him the job, they asked that both Kirk and I go to the temple to pray about it before he accepted the job. Two weeks after his interview, Kirk moved to Utah and we were soon to follow.

We also felt guided to where we live now, in Saratoga Springs. We looked at probably over 30 homes and none of them felt right. Then someone told us to check out Saratoga Springs and the second we did, we knew it was the place. However, it was not just the city we felt lead to it was also the house. We looked at some houses here and one we even made an offer on but then did not feel right about it. On a last-minute decision, on a Saturday to go and look at houses we went to a model home. The model home was not what we were looking for, but the person showing the house said he had a friend that was building a house down the road, and he could show it to us. The house was about half way finished and covered with plastic but we just knew it was the one for us.

So… this is the beginning of our story in Utah. We still do not know why we were lead here and I miss my family and friends like crazy back home but we love it here. It was nothing short of miraculous how everything fell into place so easily. The sale of our old home, finding the new home, the new job, and how we are happy to be here… it was not forced, not unnatural…. It was smooth.

1 comment:

You know I wish you were here but when you guys started the Utah talk even I knew it was right for you! I glad things went as smoothly ad they did and that you both followed the pomptings! Of course I still wish you were here :( We miss you a lot!

I have the best job in the whole world! I'm a mommy... I have birthed three amazing, sassy, BUSY, little girls. I have gained two wonderful kids, one boy and one girl. That makes five kids under one roof!
I love being a mommy, let me say that again, I LOVE being a mommy. I also love making crafts, sewing, reading, being out doors, learning, and just having fun!